ANNIVERSARY  SERMON 


BEFORE  THE 


BRAINERD  EYANG-ELICAL  SOCIETY 


OF 


LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE, 


July  28th,  1867. 


BY 


RE V.  T.  H.  ROBINSON, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  HARRISBURG,  PA. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY. 


EASTON,  PA. 
1867. 


ANNIVERSARY  SERMON 


BEFORE  THE 


BRAINERD  EVANGELICAL*  SOCIETY 

OF 

LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE, 

july  28th,  1867. 


BY 

BEY.  T.  H.  ROBINSON, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  HARRISBURG,  PA. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY. 


EASTON,  PA. 
1867. 


Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Penn’a, 
September  21  st,  1867. 

Rev.  T.  H.  Robinson, 

Dear  Sir : 

In  accordance  with  a resolution  of  the  Brainerd  Evangelical  Society  of  Lafayette 
College,  we  would  most  respectfully  request  for  publication  the  manuscript  of  your 
sermon  delivered  before  the  Society  at  the  late  commencement. 


Very  respectfully  yours, 

m George  E.  Jones, 

W.  Q.  Scott, 

H.  D.  Tate, 

Committee . 


35 


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in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


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ANNIVERSARY  SERMON. 


I have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are  strong,  and  the  word  of  God 
abideth  in  you,  and  ye  have  overcome  the  wicked  one. — 1 John  ii.  14. 

Brethren  of  the  Brainerd  Evangelical  Society : — Called  by  your 
courtesy  to  the  duty  now  before  me,  I find  myself  on  a spot  sacred 
by  its  memories  and  its  connection  with  names  that  are  dear  to  the 
American  Church.  Nor  can  I forget  that  these  sacred  memories 
were  most  touchingly  revived  and  deepened,  when,  at  your  last 
anniversary,  by  the  peculiar  providence  of  God,  that  gifted  and 
sainted  servant  of  Christ,  Thomas  Brainerd,  appeared  before  you, 
and  with  a trembling  frame  and  an  enfeebled  voice,  performed  here 
the  last  public  service  of  a life  eminent  for  its  usefulness  and 
honored  with  an  unwonted  share  of  the  truest  success.*  It  will  be 
no  slight  advantage  to  yourselves,  if  you  may  link  your  daily 
thoughts,  and  sanctify  your  daily  studies,  and  shape  your  coming 
lives  with  reminiscences  of  three  men  so  rare  in  piety  and  true 
consecration  to  Christ,  as  David,  John,  and  Thomas  Brainerd;  and 
I shall  be  more  than  satisfied,  if  by  my  words  I may  incite  any 

* It  is  a singular  and  affecting  providence,  that  the  last  sermon  of  Dr.  Brainerd 
should  have  been  preached  on  the  very  ground  hallowed  by  the  missionary  labors  of 
his  illustrious  kinsman,  and  before  a society  of  the  college  students  bearing  the 
name  of  Brainerd,  and  organized  with  the  view  of  promoting  a missionary  spirit 
in  the  college.  If  the  devoted  congregation  of  the  “Old  Pine  Street  Church”  must 
have  been  denied  the  privilege  of  hearing  Dr.  Brainerd’s  last  words  from  the  pulpit, 
they  could  not  desire  a more  fitting  time  and  place  for  them  to  have  been  spoken  ; 
and  not  only  to  them  but  to  all  the  many  friends  of  this  honored  and  beloved  ser- 
vant of  Christ,  the  Brainerd  Society  of  Lafayette  College  will  be  an  object 
even  of  greater  interest  than  heretofore. 

It  seems  highly  appropriate  to  connect  with  the  anniversary  exercises  of  this 
year,  some  permanent  record  of  Dr.  Brainerd’s  life  and  character.  Such  a notice 
will  be  found  appended  to  this  discourse. 


6 


of  you  to  emulate  the  apostolic  zeal  of  the  first,  the  patient,  faith- 
ful toil  of  the  second,  and  the  glowing,  consecrated  speech  of  the 
third  of  these  noble  men. 

In  that  passage  from  the  writings  of  the  Apostle  John,  which 
stands  as  the  text  of  my  discourse,  he  is  addressing  the  young  men 
of  the  church.  He  applies  to  them  what  is  especially  adapted  to 
their  age.  The  consciousness  of  strength  is  natural  to  youth.  The 
restless  pulse  of  youthful  blood,  the  tireless  energy  of  young 
sinews,  the  stir  of  fresh  thoughts,  and  the  spirit  of  hopefulness  so 
natural  to  youth,  all  conspire  to  beget  and  to  maintain  this  con- 
sciousness. 

Youth  is  formed  for  conflict.  We  go  to  its  ranks  to  find  bold 
champions  for  every  field  of  strife,  physical  or  spiritual.  Christian 
old  age  grows  calm  and  settled  as  the  result  of  its  repeated  victo- 
ries over  evil,  its  longer  intimacy  with  the  sources  of  spiritual 
power  and  its  higher  developments  of  Christian  life.  In  childhood 
the  germs  of  evil  in  our  fallen  nature  slumber  undeveloped.  It  is 
the  age  of  unconscious  innocence,  and  childlike  faith.  The  elements 
of  inward  conflict  are  quiet,  and  the  strife  of  outward  evil  does  not 
disturb.  Youth  is  the  period  of  awakening.  The  two-fold  law  of 
man’s  nature  appears.  Desires,  and  passions  claim  the  mastery 
over  the  higher  rule  of  the  spirit.  The  earlier  simple  and  child- 
like faith  is  called  in  question.  The  hitherto  unconscious  and  con- 
cealed discord  between  the  lower  and  the  higher  elements  of  a 
man’s  being  is  revealed,  and  with  it  comes  the  knowledge  of  out- 
ward friends  and  foes,  the  claims  of  God  and  the  demands  of  the 
world,  the  warfare  between  light  and  darkness,  truth  and  error. 
In  all  this  conflict,  internal  and  external,  the  Christian  youth  must 
engage,  and  through  conflict  reach  the  calm  and  assured  peace  of 
Christian  age,  the  second  childhood  of  the  Christian  soul.  Called 
in  the  freshness  of  its  power  to  such  a conflict,  it  must  not  shun 
the  strife.  Nor  is  it  disposed  to  do  so.  The  new  sense  of  power 
awakens  self-confidence,  a conscious  ability  to  meet  all  dangers,  to 
overcome  all  difficulties  and  triumph  over  all  enemies  in  one’s  own 
strength.  In  every  age  opening  manhood  has  been  invested  with 
charms  that  called  forth  admiration  and  love.  The  undefined  hopes 
and  promises  of  the  future  that  lies  before  youth,  the  dawning 
strength  of  intellect,  the  bound  and  flow  of  the  passions,  the 
exchange  of  parental  authority  and  guidance  for  a new  and  free 
activity,  bounded  only  by  his  own  choice,  the  sense  of  freedom  and 


7 


personal  power,  of  something  to  be  achieved  by  and  for  one’s  self, 
these  all  touch  the  pride  of  the  youthful  breast.  The  possibilities 
of  noble  or  of  ignoble  work  are  little  noted.  The  peril  of  losing  by 
ruinous  self-indulgence  or  by  selfish  ambition,  what  might  be  gained 
by  happy  self-sacrifice  for  right  and  truth,  and  human  good,  is 
unheeded.  The  danger  of  developing  into  faculties  of  evil  the 
powers  that  should  be  trained  to  beneficent  action,  is  overlooked. 

The  Apostle,  directed  by  a higher  inspiration,  and  knowing  that 
self-confidence,  unsustained  by  strength  from  a higher  source,  would 
soon  fail  in  the  conflicts  of  life,  and  be  put  to  shame,  directed  the 
Christian  young  men  of  his  time  to  another  ground  of  confidence, 
and  another  source  of  strength  than  the  consciousness  of  their  own 
powers.  Ye  are  strong.  Ye  have  overcome.  Ye  have  already 
conquered  the  wicked  one.  But  not  with  your  own  weak  powers, 
not  in  reliance  upon  your  own  strength.  It  is  because  the  word 
of  God  abideth  in  you,  the  written  Word  and  the  Living  Word. 
That  Divine  seed  is  the  germ  of  all  victories.  East  rooted  in  your 
hearts  by  an  abiding  trust,  in  its  vitalizing  power  lie  the  strength 
and  life  of  your  spirits.  Through  faith  in  the  [Redeemer,  the 
Living  Word  within  you,  and  through  fellowship  with  him  you 
appropriate  his  strength.  He  lives,  He  strives,  and  conquers  in 
you ; ye  live,  and  strive,  and  conquer  as  the  instruments  of  Him, 
who  is  ever  going  forth,  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

The  proposition  which  I bring  before  you  for  argument  and  illus- 
tration is  this : The  personal  force  by  which  we  can  most  effectually 
lay  hold  of  and  bless  our  age,  is  moral  power,  the  power  of  a life 
and  a character,  the  power  of  good  and  great  purposes,  nourished 
on  the  indwelling  word  of  God,  and  manifested  in  unselfish,  Christ- 
like  love. 

In  all  ages  men  have  been  dazzled  and  enchanted  by  power.  It 
has  been  one  of  their  chief  ambitions  to  gain  and  to  wield  it. 
Power  will  intoxicate  the  best  hearts.  Ho  man  is  wise  enough  nor 
good  enough  to  be  trusted  with  an  unlimited  amount  of  it. 

Feebleness  has  no  beauty.  It  extorts  no  admiration.  There  is 
something  grand  in  the  might  of  the  sea  as  it  sweeps  from  pole  to 
pole ; in  the  march  of  the  hurricane ; in  the  shock  of  armies,  and 
in  the  will  of  the  generals  who  direct  them.  But  there  is  some- 
thing grander  in  the  intellectual  power  that  builds  up  systems  of 
human  knowledge,  and  something  yet  surpassing  in  that  moral  and 
spiritual  power  that  resists  evil,  that  overcomes  temptations,  that 


8 


contends  with  mighty  invisible  wickednesses,  abides  incorruptible 
amid  all  allurements,  and  maintains  its  fealty  to  truth  and  goodness 
and  God  against  all  antagonism. 

All  power  is  of  God.  “ Wisdom  and  might  are  His."  “ The 
strength  of  the  hills  is  His  also.”  .Upon  us,  his  reasoning  creatures, 
He  bestows  power  only  for  beneficent  ends.  To  bring  forth  the 
hiding  of  power  God  has  put  within  us,  in  personal  development 
and  general  blessing,  is  the  end  of  human  life  as  a whole.  And 
varied  as  are  the  forms  of  nature,  so  varied  are  His  gifts  of  power 
to  men.  To  one  He  has  given  the  genius  of  invention,  to  another 
the  spirit  of  discovery,  to  another  the  skill  of  the  artist  or  the 
sculptor,  to  another  the  enthusiasm  of  the  poet,  or  the  enchant- 
ment of  the  singer;  to  yet  another  the  gift  of  the  orator,  or  the  wis- 
dom of  a statesman ; but  beyond  all  these,  and  beyond  all  the  other 
forms  of  power  by  which  mankind  have  been  dazzled  in  different 
ages,  physical  courage  and  prowess,  the  power  derived  from  ances- 
tral blood  and  rank,  the  power  of  wealth  and  position,  the  power  of 
learning  and  intellect, — beyond  all  these,  greater  and  holier  than 
they  all,  is  the  power  of  spiritual  character,  of  high  moral  aims,  of 
a life  consecrated  to  truth,  in  harmony  with  God,  and  thus  avail- 
ing itself  of  the  “ might  of  God’s  power.” 

The  heart  of  man  must  be  the  home  and  seat  of  this  power.  The 
individual  heart  must  yield  itself  to  the  control  of  spiritual  truth, 
must  be  purified  by  it  and  nourished  upon  it,  must  come  into  sym- 
pathy with  the  God  of  truth,  and  throb  in  every  pulse  with  the 
pure  emotions  that  fill  the  bosom  of  God. 

There  is  a certain  grandeur  and  nobility  about  the  heroes  of  a 
barbaric  age,  who  proved  their  power  by  physical  combats.  The 
spirit  of  our  latest  civilization  feels  a degree  of  reverence  for  the 
mighty  hunters  and  warriors  immortalized  by  Homer.  We  yield 
an  involuntary  deference  to  those  who  inherit  the  dignities  and 
rank  of  a long  line  of  buried  sires.  It  is  well  nigh  vain  to  argue 
against  the  love  and  the  pursuit  of  riches,  the  hungering  more  and 
more  after  the  largest  attainments  of  it;  vain  to  tell  men  how  it 
engenders  selfishness,  how  it  eats  manliness  out  of  the  spirit,  how 
it  poisons  society  and  corrupts  the  nerves  and  sinews  of  state ; vain 
to  remind, them  that  it  can  purchase  nothing  that  is  spiritual  and 
invisible,  can  give  no  peace,  no  sweet  content,  no  purity,  no  favor 
of  the  Divine;  for  do  they  not  see  how  it  purchases  everything  sen- 
sual and  visible,  how  it  opens  the  channels  to  power  and  office,  how 


9 


men  bow  before  its  presence,  and  what  gratifications  of  will  and 
pride*and  high-mindedness,  of  display  and  luxury  and  every  passion, 
it  affords  ? There  is  a glory  and  a power  too  about  a merely  intel- 
lectual life,  that  may  easily  make  its  possession  an  idolatry.  The 
men  who  sway  the  world’s  thinking  and  give  shape  to  the  world’s 
opinions ; the  men  who  teach  in  its  schools  of  philosophy,  who  mould 
the  statesmanship  and  diplomacy  of  the  nations,  whose  decisions 
guide  the  courts  of  law,  whose  adventurous  spirit  continually 
increases  the  domains  of  knowledge,  these  are  men  of  power.  Their 
force  is  permanent  and  far-reaching.  Their  monuments  are  stately 
and  enduring.  There  is  power,  vast  power  in  intellect,  power 
that  lives  and  rules,  never  itself  seeing  death.  The  generations  of 
men  have  been  ruled  by  the  men  who  were  mightier  and  subtler  in 
thought  than  they. 

But  all  these  forms  of  power  may  be  utterly  corrupted  and  per- 
verted by  that  which  shall  make  them  engineries  of  evil  and  powers 
of  cursing.  The  taint  of  personal  selfishness  and  personal  ambition 
may  deprave  them.  Personal  ambition  is  always  shorn  of  the 
highest  kind  of  power.  Selfishness  cannot  ally  itself  with  God  and 
truth  and  love.  It  must  be  invaded  and  broken  up.  It  cannot  by 
any  possibility  league  itself  with  any  lasting  and  beneficent  personal 
influence.  It  is  the  first  requisite  of  Christian  discipleship,  that 
self  shall  be  slain.  It  is  the  end  and  reward  of  Christian,  of  spi- 
ritual power,  to  rule.  Self  must  die  in  us,  if  we  are  to  bless  men 
and  serve  God,  and  sit  ourselves  on  the  thrones  of  the  future.  The 
knee  must  bend  no  more  to  it.  The  hands  must  toil  no  more  for  it. 
The  heart  must  no  longer  be  taken  up  with  its  own  sorrows  and 
rejoicings.  The  condition  is  imperative.  It  is  not  simply  a demand 
of  the  gospel  and  of  Christ,  who  knows  best  what  our  nature  needs 
for  its  development,  but  a demand  of  reason.  That  man  who  toils 
for  his  family  is  greater  and  more  powerful  than  he  who  toils  and 
hoards  for  self.  It  always  enlarges  and  strengthens  a man  to  go 
beyond  himself.  And  nothing  so  destroys  selfishness  as  does  the 
kindling  the  new  regenerate  life,  God’s  life,  in  the  human  soul. 
The  great  preacher  of  the  Scottish  Church  has  told  us  in  eloquent 
words  of  the  expulsive  power  of  a new  affection.  When  this  new 
affection  for  God  and  man  is  born  within,  it  confers  a vital  and 
enduring  power,  that  must  by  the  very  force  of  its  nature  imitate 
the  life  of  God  in  acts  of  beneficence  and  unselfish  love.  Moral 
power  is  inconsistent  with  self-indulgence,  nor  does  it  stand  in  any 


10 


compromise  of  good  with  evil.  The  keen-eyed  world  may  grasp 
after  its  own.  It  may  insist  upon  the  harmlessness  of  its  pleasures, 
and  the  righteousness  of  its  ways.  It  may  resent  interference  with  its 
pursuits,  and  call  the  strictness  of  religious  men  puritanic  and  hurt- 
ful, hut  let  any  teacher  of  religion  go  into  the  world  and  endorse  its 
rules,  put  himself  at  its  head  and  seek  to  lead  it  in  its  own  chosen 
paths  and  make  religion  consistent  with  its  pursuits  and  its  princi- 
ples, and  he  will  be  trodden  down  by  scornful  feet,  and  his  religion 
be  a derision  and  a weakness;  while  he  who  unreservedly  asserts 
the  high  claims  of  God  against  the  world,  who  stands  aloof  and 
apart  from  it,  high  and  pure,  denying  self  as  Jesus  did,  vindicating 
by  his  own  life  the  lofty  morality  of  Christian  teaching  and  the 
supreme  demands  of  a holy  God,  will  receive  the  inward  homage  of 
the  world's  conscience.  It  will  bow  to  the  power  and  authority  of 
such  an  example. 

If  a man  would  wield  moral  power  he  must  possess  its  elements 
and  use  its  weapons.  The  law  of  unselfish  living  must  be  enthroned 
in  the  heart,  and  be  manifested  in  the  life.  There  must  be  per- 
sonal purity  and  integrity  within,  and  a fair  and  spotless  character 
without.  The  deep  foundations  of  character,  and  beneficent  moral 
power  lie  altogether  out  of  sight.  They  are  planted,  broad  and 
massive,  in  the  principles  and  dispositions  of  the  inner  man. 
Thence,  slowly,  stone  by  stone,  the  rising  walls  go  up,  each  day 
building  something,  each  act  of  life  adding  something  of  strength 
and  beauty  or  something  of  deformity  and  weakness  to  the  super- 
structure. All  private  and  personal  acts,  all  that  are  domestic  and 
social,  all  that  are  public  and  official,  all  the  deeds  and  spirit  of  our 
life  join  in  adding  stone  to  stone.  Every  false  thing,  every  unclean 
or  dishonest  thing,  every  deed  of  selfish  trickery,  every  intrigue 
for  mere  personal  advantage,  all  arts  and  policies  and  unworthy 
evasions  of  the  truth,  that  may  be  deemed  allowable  by  those  who 
plunge  into  the  rivalries  and  counter-plottings  of  the  world,  all 
these  brina;  their  false  and  worthless  material  and  build  it  into  the 
character.  He  who  would  build  up  in  himself  a citadel  of  the  best 
and  purest  personal  power,  has  set  himself  at  a work  in  which  there 
must  be  the  most  careful  painstaking  and  inspection.  There  must 
be  a keen  watchfulness  over  the  inner  and  the  outer  man.  It  is  a 
perpetual  self-discipline,  the  forming,  shaping,  and  moulding  of  self, 
this  spiritual  and  immortal  self.  It  is  a schooling  of  ourselves  in 
divine  truth,  a subduing  and  destroying  the  base  part  of  self  and 


11 


nourishing  the  divine  part,  it  is  bringing  our  plans,  tempers, 
thoughts,  motives,  our  very  souls  into  the  fire  of  God’s  truth,  and 
keeping  them  there  till  they  are  melted,  and  the  dross  is  con- 
sumed. “ I have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  the  word 
of  God  abideth  in  you.” 

It  is  the  distinction  of  moral  life  that  it  is  capable  of  “ looking 
before  and  after.”  It  is  under  a rule.  It  has  an  aim.  It  is 
directed  toward  an  end.  Mere  animal  life  is  but  an  incessant 
activity,  and  nothing  more.  It  is  governed  by  no  idea.  It  has  no 
interior  drama  like  human  life.  It  never  pauses  for  reflection.  It 
has  neither  purpose  nor  character.  Human  life  alone  on  earth 
attains  the  glory  of  an  aim. 

Our  life  is  moulded  largely  by  that  at  which  we  aim.  The 
higher  and  purer  the  end  set  before  us,  the  more  will  a man  gather 
into  himself  the  resources  of  strength.  It  is  a characteristic  also  of 
all  moral  aims  that  they  are  higher  in  thought  and  purpose,  and 
purer  in  principle,  than  we  ever  reach  in  fact  and  practice  and  so 
are  ever  drawing  us  onward  and  upward.  It  is  the  boast  of 
Christianity  that  it  sets  before  man  the  only  perfect  ideal  of  life, 
but  it  is  an  ideal  that  cannot  be  attained  by  the  unaided  human 
powers.  Our  weakness  must  be  re-inforced  by  a living  Divine 
agency,  a loving  and  personal  Will  in  converse  with  our  feeble  will, 
healing  and  helping  our  infirmities,  educating,  inspiring  and  moving 
us.  It  is  true  of  this  moral  power  in  us,  as  of  every  power,  that  it 
becomes  effective  by  use.  It  must  manifest  itself  in  action.  Only 
so  can  it  prolong  its  existence.  The  physical  hero  who  should 
cease  all  bodily  discipline  and  activity  would  soon  find  his  well-knit 
frame  and  sinewy  limbs  and  goodly  proportions,  withering  into  very 
feebleness  under  his  eyes.  Activity  is  the  proof  and  the  tenure  of 
power.  It  is  not  enough  to  have  right  principles,  there  must  be 
right  action.  It  is  not  enough  to  be  true  at  heart,  to  have  re- 
sources of  moral  power  within,  if  there  be  no  engagement  in  noble 
work.  Power  will  stifle  and  perish  under  such  regimen.  It  can- 
not survive  its  disuse.  There  is  nothing  so  restless  and  assertive 
as  moral  influence.  It  cannot  be  hid.  It  is  like  light  hunting  its 
way  through  every  crevice.  It  is  like  heat  melting  the  heart  of  an 
iceberg.  It  is  like  the  love  of  God,  unwearied,  exhaustless.  It 
must  speak  and  act.  It  must  bless  and  do  good.  It  must  over- 
come evil  and  work  righteousness.  It  is  its  meat  and  drink,  its 
very  life  to  be  active — to  do,  like  the  great  Redeemer,  the  Father’s 


* 


12 


business.  It  is  like  a talent  that  must  be  put  out  at  usury,  that  it 
may  bring  in  its  increase.  They  who  would  retain  and  accumulate 
personal  force  and  influence,  must  use  it  in  the  attainment  of  high 
and  noble  ends. 

As  to  the  particular  ways  in  which  this  personal  moral  force  of  a 
man  shall  act  upon  human  interest  and  in  human  society, — where 
a man  shall  labor, — is  really  a far  less  important  matter  than  that 
he  shall  first  settle  the  principles  by  which  he  will  be  guided,  and 
the  end  to  which  he  will  consecrate  himself.  There  is  no  one  royal 
sphere  of  labor  in  which  the  Christian  ideal  of  life  can  be  realized. 
The  world  is  a great  work-shop,  and  the  tasks  in  it  are  multiform. 
As  we  stand  at  its  threshold,  about  to  enter  and  take  our  part,  it  is 
often  a serious  question  what  part  we  shall  take.  Every  earnest 
man  seeks  some  definite  work.  The  duty  of  work — of  every  man 
to  his  own  work — is  urgent  and  universal.  It  is  well  to  take  up 
this  yoke  in  our  youth.  God  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty. 
By  a divine  law  he  has  immutably  joined  happiness  and  activity, 
and  made  idleness  an  intolerable  burden  to  every  healthy  nature. 
There  is  no  legitimate  room  in  the  world  for  idlers.  Inaction  has 
no  rewards.  It  is  no  question  of  choice,  but  of  sheer  necessity,  that 
we  have  our  work  to  do.  Life  must  be  filled  up  with  it.  What 
form  that  work  shall  outwardly  assume,  matters  not  greatly.  If 
the  purpose  to  use  all  power,  and  to  employ  every  talent,  and  every 
opportunity  for  moral  ends  exists,  we  shall  find  that  there  is  a 
sacredness  about  all  honest  work.  The  aim  imparts  honor.  The 
qualities  and  spirit  of  the  workman  himself  are  higher  and  worthier 
than  the  calling  or  profession  in  which  he  may  spend  his  days. 
The  field  of  human  activity  opens  up  in  every  direction.  All  forms 
of  honest  toil  are  rising  in  value  and  worth.  There  are  some  pur- 
suits among  men  that  society  has  been  wont  to  dignify  with  the 
name  of  “ the  Professions/'  such  as  those  of  the  Christian  minister, 
the  professional  teacher  in  school  and  college,  the  jurist,  lawyer, 
and  physician.  These,  when  rightly  pursued,  demand  more  of 
intellectual  effort  than  many  other  of  the  occupations  of  men,  and 
so  seem  to  be  the  more  honorable.  But  by  that  vast  revolution 
that  is  changing  the  idea  of  society  and  clearing  the  pathway  of  the 
worker,  dignifying  all  honest  toil,  and  lifting  year  by  year  more  of 
the  trades  into  the  professions,  men  are  learning  to  be  ashamed  of 
no  work  that  gives  them  independence  and  enables  them  to  be  a 
blessing.  It  is  not  the  form  of  work  we  do,  it  is  not  any  special  act 


% 


13 


we  perform,  but  the  spirit  with  which  we  do  it,  the  skill  and 
excellence  we  bring  to  it,  and  the  end  for  which  we  do  it,  that 
measures  the  real  worth  of  the  deed.  There  may  be  less  of  real 
nobility  in  inditing  a learned  paper  on  law,  or  uttering  a great 
oration,  than  in  wielding  a hammer  or  handling  a plough.  In  the 
highest  market  a handicraft,  worthily  pursued,  wins  more  honour 
and  respect  than  the  noblest  profession  degraded  by  the  incapacity 
of  him  who  fills  it.  The  field  of  choice  where  our  powers  shall 
operate  is  wide  and  open  for  our  entrance. 

There  must  be  merchants  and  bankers  and  engineers.  There 
must  be  the  men  of  the  various  crafts  and  trades.  There  must  be 
the  tillers  of  the  soil  and  the  rapidly  increasing  class  of  mechanical 
men  who  fill  the  manufactories  of  the  land.  But  whatever  that 
may  be  to  which  our  bent  of  mind,  our  faculties,  the  calls  of  society, 
the  promises  of  success,  and  the  providence  of  God  may  call  us,  if 
it  be  simply  work  that  must  be  done,  and  work  that  we  can  do  bet- 
ter than  something  else,  then  all  that  is  needed  to  make  us  influen- 
tial and  honorable  in  it,  is  to  bring  into  it  the  qualities  of  a pure 
heart,  a conscientious  will,  a steady,  faithful,  fervent  energy,  and  a 
ruling  purpose  to  honor  God  and  do  good.  To  such  an  one,  no 
matter  how  lowly  his  calling  may  be,  the  avenues  of  usefulness  are 
always  flung  open,  and  the  weapons  of  influence  are  at  hand.  If 
heart  and  will  are  redeemed  from  the  grasp  of  selfishness,  and  ani- 
mated by  that  law  of  love  and  blessing  which  is  our  highest  expres- 
sion for  God — “ God  is  love” — there  will  be  opened  gates  of  oppor- 
tunity on  every  hand.  Everything  seems  possible  to  him  who  wills 
it.  Enthusiasm  and  energy  in  work,  when  sanctified  by  a noble 
end,  more  frequently  carry  the  day  than  mere  talents  and  acquire- 
ments. There  are  few  things  more  beautiful  than  the  calm  and 
resolute  progress  and  the  beneficent  power  of  an  earnest  spirit. 
The  irresolute  fall  prostrate  and  helpless  before  difficulties.  The 
resolute  and  earnest  make  them  the  stepping-stones  of  a higher 
triumph.  The  hasty  garlands  of  genius  fade  away.  The  labors  of 
the  faithful  and  earnest  meet  a perpetual  reward,  and  find  continual 
channels.  Set  a stream  in  motion  from  some  inexhaustible  foun- 
tain among  the  hills,  and  mark  how  the  rills  dispart  themselves  as 
the  flowing  waters  seek  the  opened  and  waiting  channels  of  the 
valley.  They  go  everywhere.  They  drop  into  the  dry  crevices  of 
the  rocks;  they  fill  up  every  depression  with  their  crystal  fluid; 
every  old  furrow  becomes  a running  brook;  they  stop  on  their  way 


14 


and  spread  out  into  little  lakes;  they  work  about  the  roots  of  the 
thirsting  trees;  they  go  everywhere  that  sheer  necessity  does  not 
forbid,  carrying  everywhere  greenness  and  life,  making  flowers  bud 
and  bloom  along  their  banks,  covering  the  meadows  with  grasses, 
reviving  the  leaves  of  the  drooping  trees,  filling  nature  and  man 
with  the  spirit  of  gladness. 

It  is  an  image  of  the  restless  energy  and  the  beneficent  power  of 
a Christ-like  soul.  We  need  something  to  stir  our  dead  affections, 
something  to  draw  us  out  of  ourselves  as  a centre  and  an  end.  We 
need  a strong  and  constant  working  force  within  us,  that  shall 
grapple  and  hold  us  in  the  right  course,  in  spite  of  our  sloth  and 
sin,  that  will  keep  us  to  duty  with  all  the  power  of  necessity,  but 
also  with  all  the  grandeur  of  choice.  The  mass  of  misery  and  evil 
in  the  world  around  us,  and  the  evil  of  our  own  hearts  will  yield 
to  the  power  of  no  ordinary  spiritual  life  and  strength.  If  our 
faith  is  “the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world/'  and  not  the 
beaten  foe  that  flies  before  it,  it  must  be  the  “faith  which  worketh 
by  love.”  Even  that  lower  affection  of  love  whose  whole  sphere  of 
purpose  and  action  is  amid  earthly  things,  works  long  and  well  and 
accomplishes  great  things.  There  is  a love,  unborn  of  the  spirit  of 
God,  that  beautifies  and  guards  many  an  unchristian  home.  There 
is  a love  that  leads  the  unspiritual,  the  irreligious,  to  freely  jeopard 
life  and  limb  for  country's  sake.  There  is  a love  of  man,  a philan- 
thropy apart  from  the  church  and  even  apart  from  the  Bible,  whose 
noble  sacrifices  for  humanity  must  not  be  despised.  But  the  love 
that  will  abide,  that  will  surmount  all  obstacles,  that  will  reach 
through  life,  that  will  be  patient,  firm,  persistent,  humble,  must  be 
born  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  must  have  Christ’s  love  as  its  grand 
model,  and  Christ  himself  as  its  permanent  and  supreme  object. 
Let  this  love  endow  the  spirit  of  a man,  and  it  matters  not  how 
poor  in  material  wealth  he  may  be,  how  unintellectual  his  labor, 
how  limited  his  range,  how  low  the  place  in  which  he  stands  may 
be  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  he  will  yet  be  kin  to  the  highest  spirits 
of  Heaven,  will  share  in  their  power,  and  like  them,  will  find  work 
for  his  loving  and  restless  activity.  His  love  will  find  good  to  do 
on  every  hand.  If  it  can  do  no  more,  it  will  pick  up  the  fallen 
child,  set  him  on  his  feet  and  brush  away  his  tears.  If  it  can  do 
nothing  else,  it  will  be  feet  to  the  lame,  it  will  give  a gentle  answer 
to  the  ignorant,  it  will  carry  Christ's  word  of  invitation  to  the 
weary  out  into  the  dusty  lanes  and  highways.  In  the  hovels  of 


15 


/ tlie  poor  it  will  share  its  crust  with  the  hungry.  In  the  homes  of 
the  needy  and  in  the  cell  of  the  prisoner  it  will  speak  winning 
words  of  kindness.  To  the  degraded  and  the  enslaved  it  will  bring 
the  inspiration  of  hope.  Wherever  man  sighs  and  groans  it  will  find 
an  object  and  a place  for  its  activities,  a soul  to  be  cheered  by  its 
smile,  a bowed  one  whose  burden  it  may  bear. 

Christian  men,  men  of  restless  energy  in  their  professions,  the 
sworn  followers  of  Him  who  wearied  himself  in  ways  of  goodness, 
Christian  young  men  who  will  rise  and  be  successful  in  the  sphere 
of  secular  life  to  which  they  are  turning,  stand  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  and  are  unable  to  see  any  sphere  where  they  may  speak  or 
act  for  Him  who  has  given  them  the  hope  of  heaven  and  salvation. 
But  life  is  full  of  opportunities  and  demands  to  the  earnest  spirit. 
Beyond  the  outward  which  ever  appeals  for  help,  there  is  a relief 
for  man  which  goes  deeper  and  lies  in  the  power  of  every  man  to 
bring.  There  are  kind  warnings  to  be  uttered  to  the  heedless. 
There  is  strength  to  be  brought  to  them  that  are  weak  and  hardly 
beset.  They  who  stand  wavering  between  virtue  and  vice  need  to 
be  drawn  to  a holy  and  loyal  choice  of  goodness.  They  who  are 
timid  and  yielding  before  the  allurements  of  evil  and  the  cry  of 
their  own  passions,  need  to  be  reinforced  by  the  counsel  and  sym- 
pathy of  one  that  is  stronger  than  they.  There  are  the  reckless, 
whom  we  may  grasp  with  a strong  hand,  and  the  desperate,  across 
whose  paths  we  may  fling  ourselves  in  our  urgency  for  their  salva- 
tion. Delicately,  thoughtfully,  prayerfully,  may  every  Christian 
young  man,  having  won  his  own  victory  by  that  faith  which  over- 
eometh  the  world,  take  the  place  to  which  God  calls  him — that  of 
his  brother’s  keeper.  There  are  those  by  your  very  side,  over 
whose  words  and  deeds  and  company  you  may  watch  with  all  the 
solicitude  of  a brother’s  care.  You  may  let  your  heart  go  out  to 
them.  You  may  make  their  spiritual  interests  your  special  guard- 
ianship. You  may  set  yourself  in  a hundred  ways  to  compass 
their  good.  Your  love  may  follow  them,  surround  them  in  their 
business,  dissuade  them  from  error  and  vice,  beguile  them  to  noble 
and  worthy  pleasures,  draw  them  by  the  power  of  a personal 
friendship  into  the  paths  of  sobriety,  purity  and  virtue,  and  gird 
them  around  with  bands  of  loving  restraint,  like  the  arms  of  invisi- 
ble angels. 

But  this  moral  force  of  love  will  not  be  satisfied  with  merely 
doing  what  is  thrown  in  its  way.  It  will  create  opportunities  and 


16 


open  channels  for  itself.  It  will  seek  spheres  of  labor.  It  will  ask 
the  great  Master  for  employment.  It  will  search  out  those  who 
need  its  ministries,  hunting  up  the  tempted,  going  out  into  lanes  of 
want  and  poverty,  to  the  children  of  vice  and  destitution,  and  deem- 
ing it  no  unworthy  work  for  the  highest  talent  to  bring  such  into 
the  ways  of  virtue,  and  no  ignoble  use  of  the  highest  knowledge  to 
cast  a ray  of  light  into  the  most  benighted  mind.  I know  not 
what  Christ-like  love  will  not  do  to  bring  man  to  Christ  and  Christ 
to  man.  It  will  count  it  no  humility  to  speak  words  of  tenderness 
to  the  lowliest,  to  carry  cleanliness  to  homes  of  filth,  to  light  fires 
of  content  on  the  hearthstone  of  poverty,  to  lift  up  the  fallen,  with 
its  great  pity.  It  will  stand  hand  to  hand,  and  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der, with  all  who  are  serving  the  same  Master,  bend  with  them  at 
the  same  altar,  rise  and  go  forth  with  them  to  the  march  and  the 
conflict.  It  will  count  nothing  that  it  can  do  for  the  glory  of  God 
or  the  good  of  man  to  be  unworthy  of  its  endeavors.  Love  is  tire- 
less, indefatigable,  deep,  genial,  mighty,  safe.  Wherever  man 
sighs  and  groans  there  it  finds  its  object,  and  room  for  its  activi- 
ties. It  outlives  all  things  else,  reaches  through  life,  works  down 
out  of  the  sight  of  men,  caring  chiefly  to  commend  itself  to  God. 

Let  such  a spirit  fill  the  breast  of  young  men,  and  they  will  be 
men  of  power.  They  will  be  clothed  with  it  as  with  a garment. 
Their  presence  will  be  felfiin  the  Church.  It  will  be  acknowledged 
in  the  community.  The  tempted  will  call  to  them.  The  ignorant 
and  feeble  will  flee  to  them.  Wickedness  itself  will  recognize  and 
honor  them.  Their  influence  will  be  real,  efficient,  fruitful,  tireless, 
constant,  an  image  of  that  power  that  wings  the  angels  in  their 
flights,  and  of  that  higher,  uncreated  love,  that  goes  forth  from  age 
to  age,  from  the  bosom  of  God  in  benefactions  upon  the  unthankful 
and  the  evil.  Their  very  presence  inspires  right  and  rebukes 
wrong.  Their  spirit  quickens  all  languid  and  aimless  souls.  Men 
depend  upon  them  for  every  good  work,  and  count  on  them  in  every 
conflict  with  evil.  They  are  pillars  of  hope  for  the  harassed  to  flee 
to,  depositaries  of  help  for  the  heavy  laden.  Society  builds  upon 
them.  The  Church  builds  upon  them.  Their  age  confesses  them 
as  the  vital  forces  of  their  time. 

It  may  be  thought  I am  speaking  of  great  men,  the  confessed 
leaders  in  the  moral  world,  or  £hat  I unduly  magnify  Christian 
power.  It  is  not  so.  It  has  not  been  great  talents  and  powers  of 
intellect  that  have  been  bringing  harmony  into  our  disordered 


IT 


world.  It  has  been  the  power  of  the  feeble.  It  has  been  that 
leaven  of  the  gospel  which  has  been  working  well-nigh  unobserved, 
and  altogether  unhonored,  in  the  humble,  tranquil,  obscure,  but 
active  virtues  of  the  faithful,  who,  diffused  through  society  have 
struggled  by  their  prayers,  and  examples,  and  lowly  labors,  to  stem 
the  general  depravity,  and  by  the  sweet  light  of  their  godliness  to 
allure,  here  and  there,  souls  to  virtue  and  to  Christ. 

The  work  I set  before  you,  Brethren  of  the  Brainerd'  Society, 
may  look  neither  great  nor  winning  to  the  eye  of  sense,  and  yet  it 
is  the  way  by  which  you  are  to  move  and  bless  your  time,  by 
which  you  will  take  the  deepest  and  strongest  hold  upon  it.  I 
set  before  you  nothing  that  will  fire  the  passions  of  the  sensual,  or 
the  ambition  of  the  worldly,  but,  Oh ! I do  bring  the  Christly  ideal 
of  life — a life,  not  of  poetic  self-culture,  that  seeks  only  a selfish  and 
sensuous  enjoyment;  nor  a life  of  worldly  aims,  wild,  tumultuous, 
restless,  like  the  sea;  but  a life  born  and  nurtured  of  the  Spirit  of 
Christ;  based  primarily  on  love  to  Him;  a life  in  God,  in  commu- 
nion with  the  Highest;  a life  so  near  that  great  Presence  of  holi- 
ness and  help,  that  it  is  ever  humble,  pure,  and  self-denying,  yet 
strong,  cheerful,  and  heroic.  When  Christ  by  his  own  quickening 
Spirit  enters  and  dwells  within  us,  kindling  our  love  in  his  silent  but 
efficacious  way,  stirring  up  our  hopes,  and  inspiring  a true  ambition, 
our  mortal  power  of  doing  and  of  suffering  is  increased  tenfold. 
As  it  is  the  loftiest  ideal  of  human  life  to  be  like  Him  “ who  went 
about  continually  doing  good,"  so  the  mightiest  working  force  in 
the  human  soul  is  that  love  to  Christ,  and  to  man  for  Christ’s  sake, 
whose  beginnings  are  planted  in  us  by  our  regeneration.  Better, 
stronger  than  any  mere  dream  of  inflexible  law,  is  this  great  con- 
straint laid  on  the  free  and  loving  heart.  I would  that  the  quick, 
warm,  passionate  sympathies  of  your  youth  glowed  with  the  central 
fires  of  such  a hidden  life.  I would  that  the  hopefulness  of  your  spirits, 
the  zest,  and  energy,  the  adventurous  heroism  of  your  courage,  and 
all  the  might  of  your  impulses  might  be  sanctified  and  guided  by 
this  Christian  ideal  of  life.  It  may  appear  like  a day-dream  to  set 
before  you  such  an  end  and  aim — a life  consecrated  to  Christ, 
devoid  of  self-seeking,  emulous  only  of  well-doing;  but  here  is  the 
path  of  our  truest  ambition.  Everything  beneath  this  is  ignoble 
and  unworthy  of  us.  What  we  do  effectively  and  well  on  the  earth, 
what  we  do  that  shall  conspire  with  the  doings  of  heaven  in  spirit 
and  effect,  what  we  do  that  shall  outlive  ourselves  in  permanent 
2 


18 


blessing,  must  be  done  from  motives  that  lift  us  out  of  the  narrow- 
ness of  all  low  and  selfish  aiming,  into  a new  life  that  in  its  degree 
fairly  represents  the  life  of  our  Great  Master.  We  shall  walk  in 
paths  of  the  highest  and  most  permanent  success,  we  shall  be  men 
of  power,  acknowledged  of  God,  and  confessed  of  men,  when  the  love 
that  is  ever  ready  to  help  and  reinforce  our  weakness  has  been 
welcomed  from  above  and  made  the  abiding  guest  of  our  souls. 

I have  been  asking  you,  Brethren  of  the  Society,  to  cast  away 
from  your  thoughts  of  the  life  before  you  all  calculations  of  personal 
interest.  It  may  seem  wholly  incongruous  now  to  speak  of  the 
rewards  of  such  a life,  as  if  you  needed  any  incentive.  But  I shall 
make  no  appeal  to  selfishness.  The  highest  life  is  free  from  it,  and 
by  its  very  freedom  is  rewarded.  Duty  is  a noble  word.  The 
demands  of  conscience  are  imperative  and  just.  The  word  of  God 
speaks  with  the  highest  authority  to  a loyal  nature.  There  is  a 
nobleness  in  right-doing  and  an  inherent  meanness  in  wrong-doing. 
It  is  a noble  thing  to  set  duty  and  right  before  us  as  the  law  and 
the  motive  of  life.  All  honor  to  those  who  are  moved  by  a high 
sense  of  duty,  who  obey  conscience,  who  keep  God's  commandments, 
who  hate  evil,  love  goodness,  avoid  fraud,  injustice,  anger,  and  all 
evil  passions,  who  do  good,  suffer  wrong  patiently,  and  practise  all 
seemly  and  excellent  virtues,  because  it  is  right  to  do  so.  It  is  a 
lofty  life,  that  out  of  the  sense  of  duty  to  God  and  to  man,  the  love 
of  truth  and  the  desire  for  personal  integrity,  seeks  always  to  do 
the  right  thing,  at  the  right  time,  and  in  the  right  way.  Some  of 
the  noblest  forms  of  moral  life  are  moulded  by  this  conscientious 
regard  to  duty. 

But  I show  you  “a  more  excellent  way.”  The  loftiest  motive 
and  the  highest  reward  for  doing  anything  in  any  sphere  of  life,  is 
the  joy  and  the  love  of  doing  it.  Aside  from  all  the  recompense  of 
the  future,  whose  certainty  is  beyond  all  cavil,  there  is  a present 
pleasure  in  all  well-doing.  The  health,  the  harmony,  and  the 
reward  of  the  soul  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  exercise  of 
its  own  virtues.  It  is  the  very  substance  and  reality  of  enjoyment, 
when  the  heart  is  so  attuned  to  goodness,  that  the  virtues  are  at 
home  in  it.  The  very  beaming  that  plays  on  the  human  counte- 
nance when  doing  a deed  of  kindness,  tells  of  the  lighting  up  of 
pleasures  and  unfathomed  joys  in  the  heart.  How  winsome  the 
genial  glow  in  the  eye  of  charity ! What  soft  sunbeams  in  the  face 
of  the  forgiving  and  large-hearted!  We  are  instinctively  sure  that 


19 


they  dwell  amid  the  very  elements  of  cheerfulness,  and  that  their 
inmost  spirits  are  in  the  happiest  mood.  They  who  let  “ mercy  tri- 
umph over  judgment,”  who  in  their  generousness  forgive  great 
wrongs,  who  ever  return  good  for  evil,  in  the  joy  and  triumph  of 
such  moments  have  an  ample  reward.  There  is  not  a single  virtue 
of  the  unselfish  life,  that  in  its  very  exercise  does  not  bless  him 
who  possesses  it.  What  calmness  there  is  in  impartial  justice! 
What  serenity  there  is  in  truthfulness ! What  a felt  and  native 
dignity  there  is  in  personal  honor ! What  security  and  peace  there 
is  in  the  humble  and  gentle  spirit!  What  cheerfulness  in  good- 
ness ! What  transparency  and  beauty  in  the  very  face  of  one  in 
whose  soul  purity  reigns ! As  when  the  eye  is  regaled  by  some 
scene  of  marvellous  loveliness  in  nature,  or  the  ear  is  enchanted  by 
some  melody  of  ravishing  sound,  the  soul  at  once  in  the  very  sight 
and  hearing  feels  the  joy,  so  is  it,  in  a virtuous  and  consecrated 
life.  The  exercise  of  its  goodness  gives  a perpetual  reward. 

In  every  sphere  of  toil,  the  toiler  well  knows  the  distinction 
between  a love  of  the  work  and  a love  of  the  recompense  that  fol-* 
lows  it,  between  the  strength  of  a present  joy  and  the  hope  of  the 
most  assured  future  good.  To  one,  his  toil  may  be  a perpetual  task 
and  drudgery,  its  very  achievement  stamped  with  no  seals  of  vic- 
tory; another  may  find  in  the  very  work  itself  an  abiding  reward 
and  triumph.  To  him  who  works  for  hire,  it  would  be  deemed  a 
strange  proposal,  if  on  inquiring  for  the  reward  of  his  services,  he 
were  to  be  told,  it  was  simply  more  work,  larger  tasks,  that  the 
better  he  did  his  allotted  task,  the  more  would  his  master  put  into 
his  hands  to  do.  Yet  this  would  be  the  exact  reward  for  him  who 
worked  because  he  loved  the  work  itself.  It  would  be  his  highest 
reward,  and  the  one  he  would  most  covet.  All  sublime  sacrifices 
of  man  for  man,  of  self  for  country,  of  things  visible  for  things 
spiritual,  stand  out  clear  of  all  sordid  calculations  of  reward.  The 
patriotism  that  faces  death  for  preferment  or  for  a monument,  is 
spoiled  by  an  ineradicable  taint  of  self.  The  man  who  plays  the 
hero  for  pay,  has  none  of  the  heroic  in  him.  The  martyr  who 
goes  to  the  stake  for  the  acclamations  of  the  church  or  for  the  dubious 
honors  of  saintship,  strikes  his  name  from  the  roll  of  true  confes- 
sors. All  truest  and  noblest  things  are  done,  not  at  outward 
demand,  but  at  the  inward  summons  of  the  heart.  There  are  no 
such  rewards  for  love,  as  the  lavish  outflowing  of  its  own  "wealth. 
There  is  no  recompense  for  the  affection  that  twines  a child’s  heart 


20 


about  its  mother’s  neck,  but  to  let  it  love  on,  and  no  pay  for  the 
love  of  a mother  that  outwatches  the  patient  stars  over  her  child’s 
pain  or  her  child’s  sin,  but  to  love  and  watch  on.  That  heroic 
humanity  that  stands  with  crisping  hands  and  blistered  face,  at  the 
helm  of  a burning  ship  till  all  the  passengers  are  safe,  then  sinks 
into  the  flames,  cannot  be  rewarded  by  the  acclamations  of  the 
saved.  It  has  its  recompense  in  its  own  nobleness ! Greatest  deeds 
are  never  done  with  an  eye  to  the  consideration.  Our  purest  hap- 
piness is  not  that  which  we  work  for,  but  that  which  we  work  from. 
The  friendship  that  is  bought  in  the  market  is  not  worth  half  the 
price  wTe  pay  for  it.  The  love  that  is  sold  in  the  shambles  is  a base 
counterfeit  of  the  true.  We  cannot  do  good  for  effect,  nor  love 
piety  for  its  rewards.  It  must  be  loved  for  itself.  Virtue  is  its 
own  immortalizer.  It  must  be  the  Christ  within  us  who  lifts  us 
out  of  our  narrowness  and  sin  into  the  peace  and  victory  of  a 
divine  life.  God  would  have  his  servants  feel  that  in  the  life  to 
which  he  calls  them,  there  is  a charm,  a fascination  and  a glory  to 
• every  willing  mind,  a present  heaven.  “ A righteous  man  is  satis- 
fied from  himself,”  said  the  wise  man  of  old;  and  the  Great  Teacher 
has  reiterated  the  lesson  in  the  records  of  his  own  experience.  “It 
is  my  meat  and  my  drink  to  do  my  Father’s  business.” 

It  is  reward  enough  for  all  who  toil  for  God,  to  find  more  to  do 
for  his  glory.  W^hen  we  cease  to  calculate  what  shall  be  the  pay 
of  obedience,  when  we  cease  to  think  of,  or  care  for  our  own  happi- 
ness as  the  end  of  life,  when  we  pass  beyond  the  region  of  mere 
duty  and  of  stern  conscience  as  our  guide  to  it,  and  drawn  by  the 
manifestation  of  excellence  and  of  mercy,  of  sacrifice  and  of  love, 
God  has  given  us  in  the  reconciling  and  suffering  Saviour,  we  give 
up  our  hearts  in  frank  and  generous  devotion,  obeying,  because  we 
love  to  obey,  serving  from  the  necessity  of  a sweet  constraint,  lov- 
ing God  because  we  cannot  help  it,  and  would  not  if  we  could,  then 
do  we  reach  something  of  a true,  victorious,  Christian  life.  When 
the  heart  goes  into  our  service,  uncalculating  and  ungrudging,  when 
we  love  and  do  good,  and  bless  and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again, 
finding  an  inspiration  of  deep  joy  in  the  very  deed,  we  rise  to  the 
Christly  standard  of  living. 

We  get  our  best  rewards  in  kind — in  the  growth  and  fulness  and 
beauty  of  our  own  virtues  and  graces.  Love,  for  its  reward,  has 
the  channels  of  its  benefactions  deepened.  Purity  becomes  purer 
and  more  heavenly.  Faith  gains  a clearer,  broader  vision.  Hope 


21 


expands  into  assurance.  Courage  grows  invincible.  Gentleness 
puts  on  the  might  of  heroism.  Charity  becomes  Christlike  in  its 
breadth. 

We  talk  of  the  crowns  of  paradise.  They  are  not  made  of  silver 
and  gold.  We  speak  of  the  harps  of  heaven.  They  are  not  such 
as  answer  to  the  touch  of  the  fingers.  The  virtues  of  the  ransomed 
spirit  will  constitute  its  crown  and  glory.  It  is  a moral  splendor 
that  lights  up  the  sky  of  the  eternal  world.  It  is  the  play  of  per- 
fected virtues  that  makes  the  music  of  the  heavenly  spheres.  It  is 
felt  pleasure  in  goodness  that  constitutes  the  happiness  of  the 
immortals.  The  essence  of  Heaven’s  blessedness  is  no  sitting  on 
golden  thrones  of  authority  or  wearing  coronets  of  rank,  but  it  is 
in  being  good,  in  giving  love,  in  ceaseless  benefactions.  And  so 
too,  for  our  life  on  earth,  we  reach  its  highest  attainments  when 
casting  out  of  our  thoughts  all  low,  mercenary  bargaining  for 
.reward,  all  the  sordidness  of  hire  and  wages,  and  calling  to  mind 
God’s  unconditional  gift  of  heaven,  and  what  is  richer  and  costlier 
than  heaven,  the  free  gift  of  his  own  beloved  Son,  to  all  who  will 
accept  Him ; we  also  seek  to  imitate  this  broad  charity  and  love  of 
God  to  us,  by  loving  our  fellow-men  for  their  own  sake,  by  practis- 
ing all  virtues  because  we  love  all  virtues,  by  doing  good  out  of  the 
constraint  of  our  own  goodness,  by  loving  and  serving  God,  not  for 
the  sake  of  winning  heaven  nor  of  escaping  hell,  but  because  his 
love  and  service  are  a rich  and  present  reward.  If  our  “faith  is 
the  victory  that  overcomes  the  world,”  and  not  the  beaten  foe  that 
flies  before  it;  if  we  are  to  exert  a controlling  influence  upon  human 
interests,  and  human  destinies,  we  must  acquire  the  power  of  loving 
and  using  truth,  the  power  to  make  right  and  justice  and  goodness 
look  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  men,  the  power  to  make  them  rule  over 
the  hearts  of  men,  the  power  to  glow  and  shed  on  all  around  us 
that  love  which  first  bows  loyally  to  the  claims  of  God,  and  then 
unselfishly  cares  for  the  claims  of  all  his  creatures.  It  is  a power 
which  touches  nothing  material.  It  is  not  dependent  on  the  grasp 
of  the  intellect.  It  has  no  visible  sceptre.  It  wields  no  visible 
weapons.  It  dwells  in  the  breast.  It  brings  all  the  thoughts  of 
the  intellect,  all  the  purposes  of  the  will,  all  the  powers  of  the  heart, 
all  the  silver  and  gold  of  God’s  bestowment,  all  advantages  of  posi- 
tion, and  baptizing  them  in  Christ’s  name,  sends  them  forth  into 
all  the  channels  where  want  and  woe  and  sin  are  waiting  for  a 
healing  ministry. 


22 


I am  free  and  confident  in  coming  to  you,  my  Brethren  of  the 
Brainerd  Society,  with  my  message;  to  you,  in  whom  is  the 
strength  of  youth,  in  whom  is  yet  the  undimmed  eye,  and  the 
elastic  tread,  the  sinewy  vigor  of  body,  the  quickness  of  mind,  and 
the  hopefulness  of  spirit  with  which  God  endows  and  enriches  our 
earlier  days,  and  in  His  name,  to  lay  upon  you  the  command, 
rise  above  worldliness,  forsake  sinful  passion,  let  go  all  earthly 
prizes,  forego  all  selfish  aims,  strike  for  spiritual  and  eternal  things, 
live  and  work  for  your  kind,  for  souls,  for  God.  Turn  away  from 
no  channel,  however  humble.  Let  the  divine  ideal  of  life  draw 
you  on.  Let  love  of  the  Highest  One,  and  of  all  good  things,  and 
all  good  beings  in  Him  fill  your  heart — let  it  touch  your  lips  as  a 
live  coal  from  off  God’s  altar ; let  it  impel  you  in  every  round  of 
duty ; let  it  give  an  up-lift  to  every  secular  pursuit ; let  it  breathe 
in  all  your  daily  life.  Whatever  else  may  be  doubtful  to  you,  let 
it  not  be  doubtful  that  purity,  and  love,  and  unselfishness,  and  sacri- 
fice for  human  good  and  work  done  for  Christ,  will  be  a present 
reward,  and  that  from  the  fulness  of  present  blessing,  you  can  pass 
hopefully  to  meet  in  another  world  the  results  of  all  earthly  labor. 
Our  work  here,  in  its  highest  and  most  permanent  success,  is  but 
preparatory  to  that  of  eternity.  We  learn  here  the  lessons  and 
receive  the  discipline  for  the  great  hereafter.  The  threads  of  our 
moral  history  run  on,  through  the  darkness  of  the  grave,  out  into 
the  world  beyond,  and  nothing  will  make  that  future  glorious  for 
us,  but  embracing  now  the  light  and  love  our  heavenly  Father  sheds 
on  us,  and  giving  ourselves  up  to  Christ  our  Saviour  and  Master 
to  do  unceasingly  His  work. 


IN  MEMORIAM. 


Dr.  Brainerd  was  born  June  17,  1804,  at  Leyden,  N.  Y.  When  be 
was  about  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  made  a profession  of  religion,  and 
abandoning  the  study  of  law,  in  which  he  was  at  that  time  engaged, 
he  entered  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  and  after  completing  a full 
course  of  study  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Third  Presby- 
tery of  New  York,  in  1831. 

His  first  pastoral  charge  was  at  Cincinnati,  where  he  was  for  two  years 
settled  over  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  then  for  nearly 
four  years  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Journal.  In  the  early  part  of  1837  he 
was  installed  pastor  of  the  “Old  Pine  Street  Church ” Philadelphia,  where 
he  remained  till  his  death,  which  occurred  August  22d,  1866,  at  Scranton, 
Pa.,  while  on  a visit  to  his  daughter. 

Dr.  Brainerd’s  last  sermon  to  his  own  people  was  preached  July  8, 
1866.  The  text  was,  “ Abide  with  us,  for  it  is  toward  evening , and  the  day  is 
far  spent  Luke  xxiv.  29.  The  sermon  before  the  Brainerd  Evangelical 
Society,  which  was  the  last  he  ever  preached,  was  delivered  during  the 
exercises  at  the  College  Commencement,  July  22d,  1866.  The  text  was 
“ Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth”  1 Tim.  iv.  12. 

When  Dr.  Brainerd  was  invited  to  preach  at  the  College,  he  at  first 
hesitated,  not  only  on  account  of  the  feeble  state  of  his  health,  but  as  he 
said,  from  a reluctance  he  had  always  felt  to  meet  the  excitement  of  the 
large  crowds  that  usually  gather  upon  anniversary  occasions.  But  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  present  case  appealed  so  strongly  to  hi3  feelings, 
that  he  finally  consented.  The  neighborhood  of  the  college  was  one  of 
the  missionary  stations  of  his  kinsman;  the  sermon  was  to  be  delivered  in 
the  Brainerd  Church;  and  the  College  Society,  adopting  the  name  of  the 
sainted  missionary,  had  been  instrumental  in  largely  promoting  the  spirit 
of  missions  among  the  students.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  a pamphlet 
published  at  Easton  so  early  as  1835  (nine  years  after  the  college  was 
chartered)  and  which  sets  forth  the  views  of  its  founders,  makes  the  mis- 
sionary work  a prominent  ground  of  appeal,  even  to  the  general  public,  in 
behalf  of  the  Institution.  The  caption  of  the  “Ninth  Essay”  is,  “This 


24 


plan  (of  the  college)  appears  profitable,  necessary,  and  adapted  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  Christian  ministers,  and  especially  Missionaries.”  The  writer 
urges  withearnestness  this  proposition;  “that  the  missionary  enterprise 
is  the  main  business  of  the  Church  is  a doctrine  now  distinctly  understood. 
For  this  is  she  constituted  an  Education  Society.”  It  may  be  added  in 
this  connection  that  Lafayette  College  has  furnished  to  the  Christian 
ministry  a very  large  proportion  of  its  graduates,  and  the  influence  of  the 
Brainerd  Society  is  seen  in  the  number  of  deyoted  men  who  have  conse- 
crated themselves  to  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions.  One  of  them  was  a 
native  Hindoo,  Ishwari  Das,  who  returned  to  India  and  recently  received 
two  prizes  from  the  government  for  essays  relating  to  some  reforms 
proposed  by  the  authorities.  Those  two  missionaries,  alike  beloved  and 
honored,  Messrs.  Janvier  and  Loewenthall,  whose  cruel  deaths  are  so  well 
remembered  by  the  church,  were  students  at  Lafayette.  Mr.  Loewenthall, 
who  was  the  son  of  a Jewish  Rabbi  in  Poland,  had  for  his  room-mate 
while  at  Lafayette,  the  Rev.  Victor  Herschell,  one  of  five  sons  of  a Jewish 
Rabbi,  in  Germany,  all  of  whom  became  ministers  of  the  gospel.  It  is  a 
further  coincidence  in  the  history  of  these  two  Israelites,  that  about  the 
same  time  the  former  was  murdered  in  India,  the  latter  also  sealed  his 
testimony  to  the  Faith  in  blood — having  perished  in  the  massacre  at 
Jamaica,  where  he  was  the  pastor  of  a church  gathered  largely  by  his 
missionary  labors.  “ The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church.” 

When  Dr.  Brainerd  arrived  in  Easton,  the  day  before  the  anniversary 
exercises,  he  took  the  greatest  pleasure  in  hearing  of  the  work  of  the 
Society,  and  in  visiting  the  places  which  tradition  has  connected  with 
the  labors  of  Brainerd.  Associated  with  him  in  the  missionary  work 
of  this  neighborhood  were  other  beloved  men,  of  whom  the  Doctor  loved  to 
talk.  The  main  station  of  Count  Zinzendorf  was  but  twelve  miles  distant, 
and  from  the  College  cupola  can  be  seen  the  little  village  of  Nazareth, 
where  Whitefield  laid  the  foundations  of  an  orphan  asylum — afterwards 
completed  by  the  Moravians  for  their  theological  seminary — but  still 
known  as  the  “ Whitefield  House.”  During  the  delivery  of  his  sermon  the 
Doctor  more  than  once,  upon  the  inspiration  of  the  moment,  left  his  manu- 
script to  speak  of  these  devoted  and  useful  men,  especially  of  David 
Brainerd,  who,  he  said,  (as  illustrating  his  text),  “ was  but  twenty-eight 
years  of  age  when  he  preached  at  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware  in  Indian 
wigwams,  and  whose  whole  life’s  work  was  done  at  thirty ! 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the  church  was  crowded  by  an  eager 
and  attentive  audience,  and  that  Dr.  Brainerd’s  sermon  was  listened  to 
with  delight  and  profit ; but  none  thought  that  the  occasion  would  ever 
after  be  recalled  by  them  with  a yet  deeper  interest,  from  its  being  the  last 
message  this  honored  servant  of  Christ  would  deliver  from  the  pulpit. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Brainerd  called  forth  many  notices  of  his  life  and 


25 


character,  which  were  published  in  the  various  religious  journals,  not  only- 
in  this  country,  but  also  in  England.  Among  the  most  gratifying  were  the 
tributes  paid  to  his  worth  by  brethren  in  the  other  denominations.  The 
editor  of  the  Lutheran  Observer,  Philadelphia,  in  an  extended  notice  of  Dr. 
Brainerd,  published  February  1st,  1867,  says:  “There  are  few  people  in 
this  city  to  whom  he  was  not  known,  and  by  all  was  he  admired  and 
esteemed,  as  a gifted  and  eloquent  preacher,  a laborious  and  self-denying 
pastor,  a sincere  and  steadfast  friend,  a true  and  devoted  patriot,  a genial, 
kind-hearted,  public-spirited,  Christian  gentleman.  Than  he,  the  Presby- 
terian Church  never  had  a warmer  or  more  efficient  friend,  and  yet  his 
denominational  attachment  happily  never  dwarfed  him  into  a bigot,  nor 
circumscribed  his  sympathies  within  the  domain  of  a selfish  and  little- 
minded  sectarianism.  Christians  of  all  denominations  loved  him,  for  he 
fraternized  with  all,  loving  his  own  Church  none  the  less.  Of  the  great 
Union  prayer-meetings,  held  at  Jayne’s  Hall  and  other  localities  of  blessed 
memory,  his  was  long  an  accredited  master-mind.  Often,  when  addressing 
these  popular  Christian  assemblies,  as  he  alone  could  address  them,  did  his 
face  shine,  like  that  of  Moses  after  his  descent  from  the  mount,  with  the 
reflected  glory  of  God,  and  yet  ‘ he  himself  wist  not  that  it  shone,’  for  he 
was  as  humble  as  he  was  great,  and  only  great  because  he  was  humble. 
We  have  never  known  a wiser  man — one  whose  speech  was  habitually  so 
characterized  by  the  soundest  judgment,  safest  counsel,  and  sweetest  temper. 
Both  in  his  method  of  thought  and  expression  he  was  singularly  original, 
evolving  from  his  well-stored  mind  new  and  striking  ideas,  when  others 
thought  they  had  exhausted  the  subject.  His  originality,  too,  was  never 
feigned;  but  always  natural  as  the  blowing  of  the  wind,  or  the  sports  of  a 
little  child.  For  more  than  twenty  years  was  it  our  privilege  to  share  the 
Doctor’s  personal  intimacy,  and  never  did  we  prize  human  friendship  more, 
or  more  deeply  mourn  its  severance  by  the  hand  of  death.” 

Although  Dr.  Brainerd  was  for  so  short  a time  the  pastor  of  the  Fourth 
Church,  Cincinnati,  the  following  extract  from  an  article  in  the  Cincinnati 
Herald  will  show  how  precious  his  memory  is  to  those  who  knew  him  there 
in  his  early  life  : 

“ Cincinnati’s  interest  in  this  noble  Christian  life  finds  its  origin  in  these 
same  pastoral  qualifications  which,  in  their  incipiency  bore  fair  fruits  in 
the  old  Fourth  Church,  which  still  stands  on  the  hill-side  in  the  suburb  of 
Fulton.  This  church  was  feeble  and  poor — the  congregation  a mere  hand- 
ful— and  Dr.  Brainerd  was  with  them  but  two  years.  Yet  there  are  to-day, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and  elsewhere,  scores  of  men  and  women  who  are 
among  the  most  faithful  workers  in  the  Master’s  vineyard,  who  date  their  in- 
spiration to  the  Fourth  Church  of  Cincinnati  and  its  faithful  pastor.  He  never 
forgot  them.  When  he  visited  Cincinnati,  the  churches  of  the  city  rarely 
knew  of  his  presence,  but  he  called  upon  each  member  of  tho  old  families 


26 


within  reach,  and  never  omitted  to  stand  upon  the  steps  of  his  ‘first  church/ 
and  when  access  was  possible,  entered  his  old  pulpit  for  a few  moments, 
the  better  to  recall  the  past.  This  love  for  Cincinnati  did  not  wane'in 
his  latest  years.  Over  the  vicissitudes  of  Christ’s  kingdom  there  his  tears 
often  fell,  for  through  the  Herald , and  otherwise,  he  kept  himself  in  close 
sympathy  with  its  life.  Cincinnati  friends  were  welcomed  to  his  fireside, 
and  if  of  the  Fourth  Church,  he  would  sometimes  get  out  a little  old  note- 
book belonging  to  the  early  time,  for  the  purpose  of  talking  over  and  in- 
quiring after  the  people  of  long  ago.  Many  of  these  people  upon  whom  he 
bestowed  remembrance  were,  when  he  knew  them,  laborers  in  the  rolling 
mills  and  ship-yards  of  Fulton ; poor  women  who  toiled  by  the  day  to  sup- 
port their  families,  or  young  boys  who  worked  for  their  scanty  bread.” 

The  same  writer  declares  that  this  Christ-like  trait  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor  was  characteristic  of  Dr.  Brainerd  through  all  his  min- 
istry, and  was  beautifully  revealed  among  the  mines  at  Scranton  where 
he  spent  the  last  few  weeks  of  his  life.  He  says,  “ During  his  month  at 
Scranton  his  most  enjoyed  recreation  was  to  go  at  noon-time  and  sit  with 
the  begrimed  and  ignorant  miners  when  they  came  out  of  the  pits  to  eat 
their  lunch.  Going  among  them,  he  would  inquire,  in  his  pleasant  way, 
whether  there  was  not  room  on  their  plank  for  another  man  to  sit.  They 
would  crowd  together  and  make  room  for  him — and  sitting  among  them 
he  would  talk,  while  they  ate,  of  their  homes  across  the  ocean,  of  their 
families,  their  personal  habits — and  doubtless  of  the  better  country;  they, 
the  while,  not  knowing  who  he  was.  Leaving  them  when  the  signal  for 
return  to  work  was  sounded,  they  would  call  after  him  familiarly,  express- 
ing in  their  rude  speech  the  honest  wish  that  he  would  come  again.” 

It  was,  of  course,  in  Philadelphia  that  Dr.  Brainerd  was  best  known,  and 
therefore  most  loved  and  honored.  The  following  description  is  from  the 
pen  of  one  who  knew  him  intimately  for  many  years,  the  Eev.  Daniel 
March,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Clinton  Street  Church,  Philadelphia.  It  was 
read,  by  request,  before  the  congregation  of  the  Old  Pine  Street  Church, 
and  afterwards  published  in  the  American  Presbyterian . 

“ I shall  always  remember  Dr.  Brainerd  as  a man  of  genial  spirits,  pleasant 
address,  and  hopeful  temperament.  I met  him  in  all  places;  quite  as 
often  in  the  street  as  anywhere  else — he  generally  on  horseback,  and  I as 
generally  on  foot.  He  never  would  let  himself  pass  without  riding  up  to 
the  curb-stone  and  dropping  a good-humored  word,  which  made  the  walk 
seem  pleasanter  to  me  for  several  squares  after  he  was  out  of  sight. 

I never  knew  him  to  speak  in  a public  meeting,  large  or  small,  religious 
or  secular,  without  diffusing  a glow  of  kindly  feeling  through  the  audience, 
and  disposing  every  heart  to  respond  to  the  sentiments  and  sympathies  of 
our  common  humanity.  The  great  burdens  of  life  were  as  heavy  on  him 


27 


as  on  the  rest  of  us,  hut  he  had  the  happy  faculty  of  hearing  them  him- 
self, and  helping  others  to  bear  them,  with  so  much  geniality,  buoyancy 
and  hopefulness,  as  to  take  away  half  their  weight.  He  supported  his 
own  burden  of  care  and  responsibility  with  a good-humored  and  elastic 
spirit,  knowing  that  the  strain  upon  the  carriage,  and  the  friction  on  the 
wheels  are  less  when  the  load  rests  upon  springs. 

In  our  Ministers’  Meeting,  in  our  consultations  upon  the  common  good 
of  all  our  churches,  in  our  efforts  to  raise  money,  or  to  relieve  difficulties, 
or  to  start  new  enterprises,  we  always  looked  to  him  for  an  apt  remark,  or 
a telling  illustration,  or  a “ little  story,”  that  would  make  the  task  before 
us  seem  lighter,  and  bring  its  accomplishment  within  the  range  of  our 
hopes.  His  playfulness  always  had  a serious  and  practical  turn.  If  he 
cast  the  pleasant  light  of  humor  upon  our  most  thoughtful  deliberations,  it 
was  only  to  scatter  the  shades  of  doubt  and  fear,  and  make  the  path  of  duty 
plain.  And  it  was  a very  great  matter  for  us  all  to  have  a man  among  us 
of  large  experience,  of  earnest  purpose,  and  of  practical  judgment,  who 
could  help  us  over  the  hard  places  with  a touch  of  humor,  and  scatter  the 
clouds  of  despondency  by  a cheerful  glance  at  better  things  to  come. 

Hr.  Brainerd  excelled  greatly  in  his  ready  adaptation  to  times  and  cir- 
cumstances. He  had  the  happy  art  of  putting  things  in  their  right  place, 
giving  to  every  occasion  its  full  and  fit  expression.  Belonging  to  a profes- 
sion which,  by  instinct,  usage  and  education,  clings  to  stately  ceremonies 
and  established  forms,  he  could  step  out  of  the  old  track  with  the  grace  of 
propriety  and  the  ease  of  unconscious  adaptation.  He  could  preach  the 
Gospel  with  tenderness  and  solemnity,  in  the  church,  in  a market-house, 
and  in  the  open  air.  He  could  command  the  attention  of  citizens  and 
soldiers,  in  saloons  and  hospitals,  in  public  streets  and  crowded  squares,  in 
camp  and  on  shipboard.  He  could  preside  with  equal  propriety  over  a 
General  Assembly,  a Presbytery,  or  a prayer-meeting.  He  could  make 
himself  heard  and  respected  by  the  rich  in  their  parlors  and  counting- 
houses,  and  by  the  poor  in  their  cheerless  homes  and  lowly  occupations. 
In  times  of  trouble  and  danger,  when  the  cloud  of  national  calamity  hung 
thick  and  dark  over  us  all,  he  was  a safe  man  to  soothe  the  general  alarm, 
a brave  man  to  meet  the  coming  peril,  a tender-hearted  man  to  utter  the 
public  sorrow.  In  times  of  joy  and  triumph,  none  rose  with  a more  ex- 
ultant and  chifdlike  joy  upon  the  waves  of  public  gratulation,  none  could 
speak  the  common  gladness,  better  than  he.  He  had  a quick  sensibility 
to  catch  the  spirit  of  any  occasion,  and  a ready  tact  to  meet  its  demands. 
Men  who  scoffed  at  religion,  and  made  light  of  all  sacred  things,  were  not 
likely  to  go  unrebuked  from  his  presence.  The  cultivated  skeptic,  and  the 
rude  blasphemer  found  that  in  assailing  him  they  had  something  more  vital 
and  human  than  a walking  book  or  an  official  gown  to  contend  with.  He 
had  a peculiar  skill  in  setting  the  troubled  and  doubting  in  a position  to 


see  the  light  which  their  fears  had  hidden  from  their  eyes.  In  his  quick 
and  unceremonial  adaptation  to  all  times  and  persons  and  circumstances, 
he  was  like  the  Divine  Preacher,  who  proclaimed  the  word  of  life  in  the 
synagogue  and  by  the  seaside ; in  the  streets,  on  the  mountains,  and  in  de- 
sert places ; in  private  homes,  in  the  marts  of  business,  and  by  the  wayside; 
and  always  speaking  with  equal  earnestness  and  propriety,  whether  con- 
versing with  a single  listener  or  addressing  assembled  thousands. 

Dr.  Brainerd  judged  wisely  what  he  could  do,  and  he  did  it  well.  He 
chose  the  place  and  mode  of  action  in  which  his  powers  could  work  most 
easily,  and  he  did  the  task  the  better  and  with  the  less  strain  and  friction, 
because  he  had  discretion  and  self-command  enough  to  give  his  strength  to 
that  which  he  could  do  best.  Rejoicing  that  others  possessed  endowments 
and  opportunities  not  given  to  him,  he  improved  his  own  proper  gift  so 
well  as  to  take  a front  rank  with  all  who  live  to  instruct  and  improve  man- 
kind. The  world  loses  much  talent  and  effort  for  good,  just  because  many 
fail  to  find  the  secret  of  their  greatest  strength,  or,  having  found  it,  they 
are  not  content  to  do  that  which  they  can  do  best.  And  hence  we  have 
many  unmanly  complaints  from  those,  who  excuse  themselves  for  failure, 
by  saying  that,  in  some  other  position  or  profession,  they  could  easily  have 
become  greater  and  better  men. 

Dr.  Brainerd  was  himself  greater  than  his  best  performance.  However 
well  he  may  have  acquitted  himself  on  any  occasion,  he  left  the  impression 
that  he  had  more  forces  in  reserve  than  he  had  brought  into  the  field  of 
action.  No  one  act  or  service  of  his  seemed  to  have  exhausted  his  capacity 
to  do  more  and  better.  This  impression  was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  force 
of  character  by  which  he  controlled  the  convictions  and  stimulated  the 
expectations  of  others,  whenever  they  came  under  the  influence  of  his  clear 
mind  and  commanding  will.  No  written  composition,  no  reported  speech 
of  his,  no  partial  estimates  of  friends  even,  could  have  told  a stranger  how 
much  of  a man  he  was  in  his  living  presence,  and  in  his  power  to  quicken 
and  control  other  minds.  He  was  not  unmanned  or  paralyzed  by  great 
responsibilities,  or  unexpected  circumstances,  or  by  the  overpowering  in- 
fluence of  strong  character  and  great  reputation  in  others.  He  rose  to  the 
demand  of  the  occasion,  and  he  met  it  easily,  by  looking  through  the  glare 
and  parade  and  mystery  directly  to  the  simple  and  practical  elements  of 
any  question  or  duty.  He  could  separate  the  practical  and  sure  from  the 
mystical  and  uncertain,  and  he  would  never  allow  the  dreams  and  subtle- 
ties of  idle  speculation  to  impair  the  force  of  settled  opinions  and  daily 
duties.  In  climbing  up  the  steep  of  the  heavenly  hill,  he  chose  to  keep  the 
tried  and  safe  path,  and  he  was  not  embarrassed  or  hindered  in  his  course, 
because,  when  he  looked  over  the  precipice,  he  could  not  see  the  bottom 
of  the  abyss,  or,  when  he  looked  up  he  could  not  measure  the  whole  length 
of  the  path  by  which  he  was  journeying.  And  he  showed  his  peculiar 


29 


manliness  and  force  of  character,  by  imparting  to  others  the  feeling  of 
safety  and  self-possession  which  steadied  his  own  mind. 

Dr.  Brainerd  dwelt  upon  the  plain  and  practical  elements  of  truth.  He 
believed  that  the  Gospel  is  its  own  best  witness,  and  that  the  preacher 
should  show  his  fitness  for  his  work  by  presenting  truth  in  such  a form  as 
to  be  understood  and  appreciated  by  all  candid  and  attentive  listeners.  He 
believed  that  the  most  essential  truths  are  most  easily  understood,  and  that 
the  clear  and  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  are  so  immeasurably  im- 
portant that  the  minister  of  Christ  can  have  little  time  for  the  embellish- 
ments of  fancy,  or  the  mists  of  speculation.  He  made  people  understand 
that  he  had  opinions  and  principles,  and  good  reasons  for  holding  them, 
and  that  when  he  spoke,  it  was  not  simply  to  supply  a pleasant  entertain- 
ment for  the  hour,  but  to  show  that  all  have  something  infinitely  important 
both  to  believe  and  to  do.  He  put  forth  his  appeals  and  instructions  in 
such  clear,  practical,  every-day  forms,  that  common  minds  grasped  the  full 
scope  of  his  meaning,  and  the  careless  and  the  cavilling  were  made  to  feel 
that  in  opposing  or  neglecting  the  claims  of  religion,  they  must  slight  the 
lessons  of  their  own  experience  and  the  deepest  wants  of  their  own  nature. 
He  clothed  the  great  spiritual  truths  of  divine  revelation  in  such  a human 
and  homelike  dress,  that  they  could  be  received  and  recognized  in  the  busy 
street  as  well  as  in  the  sanctuary. 

Dr.  Brainerd  had  full  faith  in  the  capacity  of  the  Gospel  to  supply  the 
chief  elements  of  progress,  in  all  states  of  human  society,  and  to  answer  all 
forms  of  unbelief.  He  was  not  afraid  that  any  real  discoveries  in  science 
would  impair  the  authority  of  divine  revelation.  If  the  philosophers  do 
not  agree  with  Moses,  it  will  be  found  in  the  end  to  be  only  the  worse  for 
the  philosophers,  not  to  the  discredit  of  Moses.  And  he  was  not  very 
much  troubled,  if  ingenious  and  sceptical  men  could  devise  objections, 
which,  for  a time,  seemed  hard  to  answer.  Every  new  phase  of  unbelief 
will  have  its  day,  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  endureth  for  ever.  And  Dr. 
Brainerd  kept  himself  up  abreast  of  all  the  progress  of  the  age,  by  keeping 
himself  in  sympathy  with  that  revealed  truth,  which  is  the  chief  element 
of  progress  in  all  ages.  He  fully  believed  in  the  power  of  Christianity  to 
sustain  itself  against  the  most  severe  and  subtle  scepticism,  and  to  vindi- 
cate its  divine  origin,  both  by  reasoning  and  by  experiment,  before  all  the 
world. 

Dr.  Brainerd  could  advance  with  the  real  advance  of  the  age,  and  he 
could  adapt  himself  easily  to  the  changing  circumstances  of  society  and  the 
world.  He  kept  even  pace  with  the  time,  and  refused  to  grow  old,  in  feel- 
ing and  spirit,  while  the  years  of  toil  and  suffering  were  growing  heavy 
upon  his  shoulders.  He  never  fell  into  the  habit  of  thinking  that  truth 
and  virtue  were  fast  leaving  the  earth,  that  all  changes  were  for  the  worse, 
and  that  things  were  a great  deal  better  in  the  world  when  he  was  young. 


30 


He  always  liked  to  class  himself  among  the  young  men,  and  he  was  sure  to 
show  so  much  buoyancy,  hopefulness  and  adaptation,  as  to  make  the  young 
men  feel  at  home  in  his  company. 

He  respected  the  wisdom,  the  virtue  and  precedents  of  the  past,  and  yet 
he  felt  called  upon  to  use  them  all,  in  attaining  a sounder  wisdom  and 
loftier  virtue. 

When  the  form  or  issue  of  great  questions  of  principle  or  duty  changed, 
he  was  quick  to  meet  the  new  demand.  He  was  not  the  man  to  spend  his 
strength  in  fighting  over  an  old  battle,  when  there  was  no  longer  any  de- 
mand for  the  conflict. 

Hr.  Brainerd  was  truly  and  conscientiously  denominational  in  his  prin- 
ciples and  preferences,  and  yet  he  was  liberal  and  conciliatory  towards  all. 
We  had  no  truer  man  to  rely  upon,  when  the  order,  the  doctrine,  the  good 
name  and  the  associated  interests  of  our  own  churches  were  to  be  main- 
tained ; and  when  the  fit  occasion  came  to  forget  all  denominational  differ- 
ences, and  unite  in  common  efforts  and  supplications  for  the  growth  and 
harmony  of  all  Churches  alike,  none  could  cause  all  hearts  to  flow  forth  in 
common  sympathies  and  efforts  more  happily  than  he.  No  minister  in  the 
city  had  a larger  personal  acquaintance  with  ministers  and  laymen  outside 
of  his  own  denomination,  and  none  would  have  received  a more  ready  wel- 
come to  other  pulpits,  no  one  would  have  been  more  sure  to  speak  kindly 
and  acceptable  words,  whatever  sect  or  class  of  Christians  he  might  ad- 
dress. And  yet  he  was  wise  and  hearty  in  giving  the  great  strength  of  his 
life  and  labor  to  the  upbuilding  of  his  own  denomination.  It  is  for  the 
interest  of  the  one  universal  Church,  that  every  branch  shall  be  united  and 
strong,  and  any  minister’s  life  will  be  worth  most  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 
when  he  works  most  freely  and  earnestly  in  the  way  of  his  own  choice,  and 
with  such  forms  and  instrumentalities  as  he  can  use  best.  Christianity  is 
scandalized  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  not  by  the  existence  of  different  de- 
nominations, but  by  the  unchristian  mode  in  which  they  treat  each  other. 

Hr.  Brainerd  labored  cheerfully  and  uncomplainingly  for  a whole  genera- 
tion in  his  chosen  profession,  and  found  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  his 
exceeding  great  reward.  He  expressed  no  regret  that  he  had  abandoned 
other  pursuits,  or  that  he  saw  others  making  themselves  rich,  while  he, 
with  greater  effort,  ability  and  sacrifice,  must  live  and  die  poor.  He  felt 
rich  in  his  own  heart  and  life,  if  he  could  lead  others  to  lay  up  for  them- 
selves imperishable  treasures  in  heaven.  In  thirty  years’  time,  he  passed 
through  many  vicissitudes  of  trial,  difficulty  and  discouragement,  as  well  as 
of  toil,  hope  and  success;  but  in  them  all,  he  bore  himself  honorably  and 
bravely,  and  in  the  darkest  days,  he  had  grace  given  him  for  his  own  neces- 
sities, and  a reserve  of  faith  and  cheerfulness  with  which  to  strengthen  his 
brethren.  He  bore  up  under  great  bodily  infirmities,  and  worked  on  hope- 
fully and  successfully,  while  daily  expecting  the  end,  anxious  only  to  be 


31 


found  at  his  post  when  the  Master  came.  His  unsteady  hand  and  faltering 
step  indicated  no  abatement  of  high  purpose  and  firm  resolution  to  carry  his 
burden  till  the  Master  bid  him  lay  it  down.  And  so  he  went  on  his  way, 
bearing  his  own  sorrows  lightly,  that  he  might  comfort  others  in  their  afflic- 
tion, living  upon  a bare  competence  that  he  might  enrich  others  with  the 
resources  of  his  gifted  mind  and  chastened  heart,  forgetting  his  own  dis- 
couragements that  he  might  cheer  others  in  their  despondency,  hoping  all 
things,  believing  all  things,  enduring  all  things,  if  by  any  means  he  might 
save  some/7 


' 


. 


■ x 


. 

* 


